Tag Archives: the moon’s accomplice

Maunderings About Rewriting a Novel

Posted on April 2, 2013 by Cat

If you’re friend or family, you may know something about it, or even have read one of the many, many earlier drafts.

And I’m really happy with it, but holy cow, is it hard to rewrite a novel. Because you’ve got to manage it all in your head while working with smaller parts of it.
Continue reading →

Posted in Writing | Tagged , , , , , | 6 Comments

Filling In More of The Moon’s Accomplice

Posted on July 6, 2011 by Cat

And all along the side of the boat, on the inside of the railing, were pictograms scratched by former prisoners. Some were easy to decipher: Six Flowers, Sun and Rain, Riverfern. Others were harder, lacking an established alphabet. A clamshell might be that, or some other concept, or food, or the sea, and coupled with what could have been a candle or eel or sprout, who was to know the precise name of the former prisoner, fate as unknown as Shyra’s, who had scratched that, in letters no more than a fingernail high, in the space beside the hasp to which Shyra had been secured for the duration of the journey? Continue reading →

Posted in teasers | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Some Words From This Morning

Posted on July 5, 2011 by Cat

This is from the BFFT (Big Fat Fantasy Trilogy). I have the first book completely blocked out now, so I’m going to fill in all the blank spots, then block the next and do it and so forth. Anyway, this is from early in the book and is the first appearance of Teo, who is a major character. I’m actually switching my Clarion West writeathon goals over to novel chunks to make them a bit more in alignment with my highest priority, which is finishing this trilogy.
Continue reading →

Posted in teasers | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Realization About Shadow Twins

Posted on June 16, 2011 by Cat

Weird little things happen like this when you’re working on something big. It’s like a lens clicks into place and you perceive a section better. And that perception spreads out, affects the view you have of the overall piece, the unruly profusion of plot lines, each with its flowers of action scenes and climatic moments, that will become the lavish bouquet of the book’s world. Continue reading →

Posted in Writing | Tagged , | 2 Comments

What Do You Think Of This Book Synopsis?

Posted on May 16, 2011 by Cat

One of the things I’ve been doing is reading other big sprawling fantasy novels: the Robert Jordan/Brandon Sanderson Wheel of Time series, George R. R. Martin’s Game of Thrones, Pat Rothfuss’s The Name of the Wind and The Wise Man’s Fear, David Edding’s Belgariad and Robin Hobb’s work. I’m trying to figure out what makes for a successful series of fantasy books. What other series would you suggest looking at? Continue reading →

Posted in Tabat | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 13 Comments

Revising Through A Single Lens

Posted on February 19, 2011 by Cat

I’ve been reading Donald Maass’s excellent, excellent book Writing the Breakout Novel (which is, unfortunately, not available on the Kindle so I actually had to do the archaic order and wait for a hardcopy thing) and it’s at a perfect time for me since I’m beginning the second pass at the current project. As I’ve read, I’ve collected ideas to apply to rewrite. I’m making the heroine’s past considerably more complex, shoving the hero a bit more ruthlessly out of his depth, making some bad guys more ambiguous morally, killing my very favorite character, letting a villainess be much, much bitchier (and funnier), and raising the stakes repeatedly. Continue reading →

Posted in Writing | Tagged , , , , , , , | 3 Comments